


Productivity and Balance

by Walpger



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: After effects of Virgil's room?, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders is a Sweetheart, Anxiety's Room, Because I guess that's a thing now, But boy did I accidentally add him there at the end, Don't even worrry about it, Even though it's not in canon, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Logan Needs A Hug, Logan's bad at his job, Morality | Patton Sanders is a Good Friend, Out of Character Logan, Patton really wasn't supposed to be in this, Patton's kind of the only one in character actually, Patton's my hero, Sleep Deprivation, Virgil and Patton taking care of Logan, it's fine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 07:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19127701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walpger/pseuds/Walpger
Summary: “Logan! What the hell?” Virgil turned back to the spectacled side in front of him, “It’s 2:30! Thomas should be sleeping, what do you think you’re doing?”“He has to get this done, Virgil,” Logan’s tone was cold, even for him.In which Logan camps out in Virgil's room for way too long, Virgil's a freaking hero, and Patton is an all around fantastic father.





	Productivity and Balance

Virgil sunk down into Thomas’ stairs, arriving back to his room. It was late; Patton and Roman had insisted they start watching a Disney movie at 10:00 and proceeded to insist that they had to watch two more. Because obviously they couldn’t take a break while watching all 3 Toy Stories. So, Virgil was now dragging himself back to his room at 2:30 in the morning. He’d been hanging out with Patton and Roman for most of the day, as Logan had kept Thomas busy with some big important project. Virgil wasn’t entirely certain what it was, but he had come to trust Logan’s judgement and wasn’t all that worried about it. Which came as a big surprise to everyone, but it was fine. Logan and Thomas would get it done; Virgil was certain. 

As soon as he entered his room, Virgil knew something wasn’t right. He quickly surveyed the area, hoping Deceit wasn’t lurking anywhere in the shadows. Virgil was surprised, and somewhat relieved, to find Logan sitting in a corner of his room. His laptop was placed in his lap as he typed something ridiculously quickly into the keyboard. He didn’t even look up when Virgil approached him. 

“What are you doing here, L?” Virgil asked, still relieved that Deceit wasn’t lurking, but growing irritated that the logical facet had entered his room without permission. “I thought you and Thomas were working on something. Did you get it done?” 

“Not yet,” Logan replied in his calm, emotionless tone. 

Virgil felt a pang if worry in his gut and quickly glanced up into Thomas’ plane of existence. His worry rapidly grew when he saw Thomas sitting at his kitchen table, bags under his eyes, working on his laptop.  

“Logan! What the hell?” Virgil turned back to the spectacled side in front of him, “It’s 2:30! Thomas should be sleeping, what do you think you’re doing?” 

“He has to get this done, Virgil,” Logan’s tone was cold, even for him. Virgil has grown used to Logan’s ever so slightly kinder, friendlier demeanor, but it seemed to have vanished now. “He needs to work until he completes this video.” 

Virgil’s eyebrows furrowed; he felt the familiar presence of anxiousness building in his stomach. Something was very wrong here. Virgil crouched down and looked at Logan closely. 

His hair was slightly messy, as though he had been running a hand through it frequently. He looked paler than usual, and his hands shook slightly whenever he stopped typing to think or to push his glasses up. Virgil felt his breathing quicken as he noticed the dark bags resting under Logan’s eyes. Oh God. 

“Logan, how long have you been in here?” Virgil’s heart was pounding. He remembered when everyone had come to his room, after he hadn’t shown up for one of Thomas’ videos. They had all started panicking and spiraling, they’d started becoming him. That had only been for an hour. If Logan has been sitting in here for any longer… 

“It’s not relevant,” Logan snapped at him. Virgil’s eyes widened, and his stomach clenched. That gave him the only answer he needed. Too long. 

“Logan, you’ve got to leave,” Virgil grabbed his shoulder, shaking it slightly, trying to shake some sense into the normally logical side. “Now” 

“I can’t,” Logan finally took his eyes off of the screen and met Virgil’s gaze. “Thomas has to get this done. It is absolutely essential that this video be done by tomorrow. His viewers are expecting a video tomorrow, and if he doesn’t finish, they will be severely disappointed.” 

“Okay… But, how about you work on it in your room?” Virgil glanced up at Thomas again, silently apologizing to the exhausted form hunched over at the table. He wished he could convince Logan to stop, so Thomas could sleep, but it seemed unlikely that Logan would stop now. He was dead set on working until sunrise, which they could discuss later, but right now Virgil needed to get Logan out of his room. That was first priority. Logan was twitching and scowling and the bags under his eyes were getting darker by the minute. He was turning into Virgil, slowly but surely, and soon Thomas would have two anxious sides, and no logical side to reel them back in. So, Thomas’ sleep could wait. 

“I can’t leave,” Logan insisted, back to gazing at the laptop screen and typing, “I work effectively here.”  

“Logan, please.” Virgil shifted uncomfortably, heart pounding, hands twitching. He was growing desperate. "Come on, man. You can keep working in your room. Remember the Yerkes Dodson curve? You’re not safe here.” 

“I am perfectly fine, Virgil.” Logan said, focusing on the screen in front of him. Virgil pulled at the drawstrings of his hoodie. God, he was bad at this. He didn’t normally have to be the logical one or the comforting one. He was normally the anxious, exhausted mess. He had no idea how to handle this. Virgil reached for Logan’s laptop. Maybe taking it would help Logan to focus, to remember who he was? 

Logan pushed Virgil’s hand away from the laptop, pulling the piece of technology closer to himself. Logan glared daggers into Virgil’s eyes and Virgil had to look away. He didn’t like eye contact as it was, but the hate filled stare Logan was shooting at him was too much. 

 “I have to finish this,” Logan hissed. “If you’re going to continue disrupting my work, you should  leave.” 

Virgil flinched at the harsh tone and the dismissive words thrown at him. He wanted nothing more than to leave, avoid the confrontation with Logan, and just leave him there to suffer. But Logan was a friend, and more than that, he was an important part of Thomas. One that Thomas  _needed_  to function and survive. 

“Logan.” Virgil raised his voice, forcing as much power into his tone as he could. No response from his friend. “Logan, look at me!” Virgil shouted, shaking Logan’s shoulder once more. Still, Logan ignored him, dark bags nearly solid black now. “LOGAN,” Virgil screamed, panic unleashing itself into volume. “You’re hurting Thomas! You have to stop this!” 

Finally, Logan looked at him. His expression was dazed, confused with a touch of anger, as if he was vaguely annoyed with something he didn’t understand. “What did you say?” His voice was icy, something Virgil could not have prepared for even if he had been expecting it. All emotion was gone from his voice, any trace of kindness, of  _Logan_ was gone. Virgil inhaled and shoved back his panic. At least he had his attention, he couldn’t lose it now. 

“Look at Thomas,” Virgil reached forward and pushed Logan’s chin up so he could witness the agonizing work he was forcing onto their friend. “He’s exhausted, he needs to sleep.” 

Logan still looked confused, but he shook his head slightly. “He will have to sleep later, Virgil. This… This is important.” He sounded less confident that time, more like himself, and Virgil hoped he was getting through to him. 

“Yes,” Virgil agreed. “It is important, but not more important than Thomas, right?” 

Logan’s eyebrows furrowed, he was still staring up at Thomas, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He shook his head very slowly. Virgil breathed out, beginning to feel more at ease. He was getting to him, and Logan would agree to leave soon. Virgil would take him back to his room and he would be back to normal in no time.  

“Okay, good!” Virgil tried to sound as soothing as possible, feeling like he was talking to an upset child. It was odd; Logan was usually the least childlike of all of the sides, but here Virgil was, treating him like a little kid. “I don’t think so either, so why don’t you put down the laptop, and I’ll take you back to your room, kay?” 

Logan looked back at him, then glanced at his laptop. “I don’t think… But… I work well here.” 

Son of a bitch, he was as stubborn as Roman. “Logan you can’t stay here. You’ll turn in to me! Nobody wants that.”  

“My work…” the dark bags under Logan’s eyes were completely opaque. Virgil watched several expressions flit across Logan’s face— fear, guilt, confusion, anger— before he turned back to the laptop, seeming to return to the state he had been in before. 

“Damn it, Logan!” Virgil cried, voice catching in his throat. “You have to leave. You’re not safe!” 

Logan didn’t reply. Virgil felt his lungs starting to contract, his breathing started to accelerate and he couldn’t think. How was he supposed to get Logan out of here? What could he even do? Virgil buried his head in his knees and tried to think. Tried to calm down. He looked up at Thomas, reminding himself that if he started panicking now, Thomas would feel it. He had to stay calm, had to be Logan while Logan was being him.  _Okay, Virgil. Think._  

He could try to pull Logan back to his own room, but he wasn’t sure he could. None of them had ever tried to forcefully drag someone into a different room. He knew he could get him to Thomas’ plane; they’d all pulled each other up there at one point or another. But that would scare the shit out of Thomas, appearing at three in the morning with a mid-meltdown Logan. At this point, though, Virgil was beginning to think it was worth it. He couldn’t think of anything else, and he didn’t have the time to sit around and wait for another idea. 

He grabbed onto Logan’s shirt with both hands. Logan’s eyes widened and he started kicking and trying to pull free. He screamed at Virgil, eyes crazed and unfocused. Virgil almost let go. Seeing Logan like this... Fear was the only word for it, but it didn’t even begin to cover the panic that washed over Virgil as Logan started to scream.  

But he held on to the collar of Logan’s shirt and focused on raising himself up to Thomas’ plane. It was harder than usual with Logan’s violent protesting, but he managed to haul the struggling side out of his room. 

They arrived at Thomas’ plane. Logan’s screaming died, and he collapsed onto his knees. He was shaking, and murmuring to himself, and Virgil thought he might have been crying. Thomas looked up from his work and stood when he saw Logan, “Oh my God. Virgil? What happened? Is that Logan? Is he okay?” 

Virgil closed his eyes.  _Think._  He couldn’t deal with Thomas’ questions right now. “Patton!” He yelled in the direction of Patton’s room. “I need you, get up here now!” Patton appeared almost instantly, still in his onesie, looking tired and concerned. 

“What’s going on, kiddo?” Patton asked. He glanced down at Logan, who was still shivering on the floor, then Thomas who was watching with exhausted, panicking concern. 

“I’ll explain later, okay? Just get Thomas to bed.” Virgil instructed Patton as he attempted to sooth Logan by rubbing his hand in circles along the logical side’s back. Patton had done that for  _him_  many times and it always helped, at least a little.  

Patton nodded, seeming to understand the urgency of the situation and not asking anymore questions. He moved over to Thomas and put an arm around his shoulder, leading him away from Logan and Virgil, towards his bedroom. “Don’t worry, kiddo. Logan’s just fine, okay? Virgil’s going to make him better, you just get yourself to bed. You look exhausted, kiddo. Come on.” Patton’s comforting voice faded as he led Thomas away, and Virgil was left to focus on Logan again.  

“I’m going to take you to your room now, Logan,” Virgil said as calmly as he could. He didn’t want to startle Logan by just dragging him there without warning. That might make things worse. Logan didn’t seem to hear him, though, just kept shaking and crying and muttering unintelligible words to himself. “Alright, L. Here we go.” 

Virgil wrapped his arm around Logan’s shaking shoulders and tried to think about Logan’s room. Virgil hadn’t been there very often, if he was being honest, but he knew what it felt like. It was calm, ordered, and secure. Like Logan, but a room. Virgil had always thought it would be very relaxing to spend time in Logan’s room, but he’d never had reason to. 

Virgil concentrated and managed to pull Logan down into his room. It was easier this time, as Logan wasn’t kicking and screaming, he just whimpered a little and shook like a leaf in Virgil’s arms. 

As soon as they arrived in his room, Logan’s breathing slowed. He glanced up from the floor, where his gaze had been glued since getting to Thomas’ plane. He looked lost, and Virgil felt a pang of sympathy for the logical side.  

“Logan?” Virgil said softly, not wanting to startle him in case he’d forgotten that Virgil was there. Logan looked at him, only jumping a little, and Virgil was relieved to see the bags under his eyes fading. Thank God. 

“Virgil?” Logan pushed himself up from the floor, so he was sitting up straight. “What happened? What’s going on?” Logan hugged himself, attempting to stop his arms from shaking. It didn’t work. He looked frightened, but it was a huge improvement from the manic, screaming Logan from before, and Virgil was briefly struck with an urge to laugh. He held it in, knowing Logan would think he was laughing at him which  _never_  went well. 

“You were in my room,” Virgil explained, still trying to keep his voice calm and level. “For way longer than you should have been.”  

Logan’s eyebrows furrowed as if he was trying to remember, “I… But that would completely disrupt Thomas’ balance…” Logan glanced up into Thomas’ plane, watching Patton put a disheveled Thomas to bed for a moment. Logan’s face didn’t change, but Virgil could see the guilt in his eyes. 

“Hey,” Virgil said, drawing Logan’s attention back to him. “He’s gunna be alright. I got you out in time. Everything will be back to normal by the time Thomas wakes up. He’ll just be a little tired is all.” Logan nodded, though Virgil could tell he was beating himself up about it. Side effect of hanging out in Virgil’s room, no doubt. “You should get some sleep,” Virgil advised, putting a steadying hand on Logan’s arm as he tried to stand. “It’ll help re-balance you, trust me.” 

Logan nodded slightly, turning towards his bed. He walked a few steps before stumbling, and Virgil felt a pang of sympathy. He returned to his friend’s side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, “I’ve got you. You’re not used to the nerves, L. Take it easy.” 

Virgil helped Logan cross the room to his bed, he didn’t comment on the blush spreading across Logan’s face. Getting help from others was not something Logan was very good at. He wouldn’t meet Virgil’s gaze as he whispered, “Thank you.” 

He didn’t need to say anything else because Virgil knew what he meant. “I can hang out here for a little bit, if you think you’ll need company. Anxiety is a bitch when you’re trying to sleep. Especially when you’re not used to it.” Logan simply nodded, still not meeting Virgil’s eyes. “Okay. I can do that, no problem.” Virgil sat on the edge of Logan’s bed as Logan laid down, curling into a little ball on his side, facing him. Virgil felt a little flutter in his chest. Without really thinking, he reached out and began stroking Logan’s hair. After a couple seconds, Logan’s eyes slid closed, and a few minutes later his breathing became slow and steady, and Virgil knew he was asleep. 

 He thought about leaving, so he could get back to his room and sleep for a while, but he didn’t want Logan to wake up in a panic by himself. Virgil didn’t really know how long it would take for Logan to get back to his normal self, but he felt like he shouldn’t leave him alone until he was normal again. So, he stayed. After an hour or so, he started worrying about staying in Logan’s room for too long. He’d never been in his room for very long before, usually just to come grab the room’s inhabitant. But now he was spending a long time here. Would something happen to him? 

Patton arrived a few minutes later, worry written all over his face. He made eye contact with Virgil and snuck quickly over to Logan’s bed, where Virgil was still sitting. “What happened, kiddo? Is he alright? I was gunna wait for you to come out, but then I started thinking maybe something was seriously wrong and I just— is he okay?” 

Virgil felt a pang of guilt, knowing he probably should have slipped out to tell Patton what had happened. The poor guy had put all his worries on hold and done exactly what Virgil had said, without question, and Virgil hadn’t even assured him that Logan was alright. Nice. 

“Yeah, Pat, he’s gunna be fine,” Virgil promised. Patton sat next to him on Logan’s bed and smiled slightly at the sleeping side.  

His smile quickly faded though and he looked back to Virgil, “What happened to him? He looked terrible back up in Thomas’ place. Did Deceit do something?” 

“No it wasn’t Deceit,” Virgil watched Patton’s face closely. He wasn’t sure how he would react to the whole thing. “He was in my room. Remember when you guys all came to get me, and you started freaking out? That’s what happens when you stay in there too long. And he was in there… Well, I don’t even know how long.” 

“But,” Patton’s expression was an interesting mix of confusion and concern, “Why was he there? I thought he was working on the video with Thomas?” 

“He was,” Virgil sighed. “He said something about working productively in my room? Like he thought he would work faster with a little more anxiety or something. I’m not totally sure, but he was pretty rough when I found him. I don’t know what would have happened if…” Virgil’s voice faded off. What  _would_ have happened if Logan had stayed in his room? What if he hadn’t been able to get him out? What if he’d hesitated? Would Logan have stayed in that state permanently? What if Virgil had hesitated or choked up or not acted as he did? Would Thomas have been okay? Having two Virgil’s would have ruined him. Plus, Logan was essential. What if Thomas had lost his logic? Logan could have been— 

Virgil’s spiraling thoughts paused as Patton pulled him into a hug. The anxious side slowly realized that he was hyperventilating as Patton held him and slowly rubbed his back. “It’s alright, kiddo. You don’t have to worry about what would have happened because you got him out. You did everything exactly right, and I’m so proud of you. You did an amazing job, and look! He’s okay now, sleeping peacefully, probably dreaming about math or something fun like that.” Patton rambled on and Virgil was glad for the soothing noise as he tried to calm down. 

He’d been so busy with Logan that he hadn’t been able to process all of the pressure and fear from the whole situation; he’d been running on adrenaline. And now the suppressed feelings were hitting him all at once. Virgil wrapped his arms around Patton and tried to slow his breathing.  _Breath in. Count to 10. Hold for 5. Breath out. Count to 8._  Patton leaned back against the backboard of Logan’s bed, continuing to hold Virgil close to him. After a few moments, Virgil’s breathing returned to normal, but he let himself be held by the fatherly side because it was comforting. Patton continued to whisper soft reassurances until Virgil told him he was okay. 

“You can go if you’d like, kiddo.” Patton said softly. “You’ve got to be exhausted after all that, and I can stay here with him.” Virgil made a noncommittal grunt, but didn’t move from Patton’s embrace. “Of course, you can stay too. I know you’re probably worried about the whole ‘room effecting us’ thing, but Logan’s doesn’t really do that. You might start feeling kind of numb, but it’s not really a bad numb. Just a calming numb. It goes away pretty quick, too.”  

Of course, Patton would know the exact effects. He spent more time in Logan’s room than anyone, except Logan himself. Virgil was glad, though, because he  _had_ been slightly concerned about it. Patton waited patiently for Virgil to respond as the anxious side thought carefully. Virgil looked down at Logan, his glasses skewed, his face buried into his pillow. He reached over and gently took off his glasses, setting them on the side table. He saw Patton smile from the corner of his eyes as Virgil settled back into his arms.  

“I’ll stay.” 

 


End file.
